Abstract

References (35)

Footnotes (51)

Using the URL or DOI link below will
ensure access to this page indefinitely

You will receive a perfect bound, 8.5 x 11 inch, black and white printed copy of this PDF document with a glossy color cover. Currently shipping to U.S. addresses only. Your order will ship within 3 business days. For more details, view our FAQ.

Quantity:Total Price = $9.99 plus shipping (U.S. Only)

If you have any problems with this purchase, please contact us for assistance by email: Support@SSRN.com or by phone: 877-SSRNHelp (877 777 6435) in the United States, or +1 585 442 8170 outside of the United States. We are open Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:30AM and 6:00PM, United States Eastern.

Merging Separate Spheres: Can Paternity Leave Reduce Sex Specialization in the Long Run?

There has been a recent trend in policy-making towards incentivizing fathers to take parental leave in order to boost women's labor market positions. Though paternity leave can temporarily facilitate a less gendered division of household labor, little research has been able to determine whether these effects persist after the leave period ends or whether the household reverts to traditional gender roles afterward. This paper presents the first causal evidence that exposure to paternity leave can have a large and lasting impact on household sex specialization. I exploit exogenous variation in exposure to a 'daddy quota' for parental leave across Canadian provinces and years, and use time-diary data to analyze whether it was associated with changes in fathers and mothers' time allocations in the long term. I find strong evidence of reduced specialization in exposed households: exposed fathers experience a greater relative increase in non-market work than do exposed mothers. At the same time, exposed fathers reduce their time in paid work while exposed mothers spend considerably more time in paid work and are also more likely to be employed and full-time workers.